AUDIO: Stormers ready to end their 'dry run'
LISTEN as Stormers coach Robbie Fleck and captain Siyamthanda Kolisi talk about the challenges of a four-match Australasian tour.
Having bounced back from an opening round loss (3-40 to the Bulls), the Stormers have recorded admirable wins over the Lions (19-17 at Newlands), Sharks (16-11 in Durban) and Jaguares (35-8 at Newlands).
They now head out on the most challenging part of the season.
The Cape Town franchise plays the Hurricanes (in Wellington) this coming Saturday, followed by games against the Blues (Auckland), Reds (Brisbane) and Rebels (Melbourne).
While their win over the Sharks suggest they have found the recipe to win away from home, their record away from Newlands is barren.
Fleck said their win over the Jaguares this past Friday was an important game to win before they depart on tour.
“We can take a lot of good things out of this game on tour, where we are going to be severely tested,” the Stormers coach told a media scrum.
“It is a different kettle of fish playing in New Zealand, then it is in our own back yard,” he said, adding: “But there are some players in this group that have won there [in New Zealand] before and we can take the confidence from this match [against the Jaguares] and know that it is not impossible to win in New Zealand.
“We really have to go along those lines, that we can upset one or two teams on tour.”
Fleck admitted his team will be tested “in many different ways” on the New Zealand leg of their tour.
“The tempo of the games would be of a much higher standard and certainly the width that the New Zealand sides attack with,” the coach said.
“We are going to have to be pretty sharp.
“There is a lot to work on, but tactically we are going to have to be pretty smart that we have to control the tempo of the game, because that is what the Kiwi’s love to do.
“They love to speed things up, they are pretty physical at the breakdown, they like to get their ascendency there.
“We have got some work to do now and got some time over the next few days to put our work in and present a decent plan to the players Monday.
“There is good energy in the group, for the first time in a long time we are going overseas with a pretty decent squad.
“It is exciting, it is a long trip as well, but it is good for us to be spending some quality time together both on and off the field. I am looking forward to it.”
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Captain Siyamthanda Kolisi said defence will be key.
“We prepare for every single team the same,” the skipper said, adding: ” We are not going change our preparation because we are going to New Zealand.
“I think what we are doing has been working very well and we are going to maintain that.
“We are not going to go out there and think that this is a different side that is going to be hard [to beat].
“We put a lot of work into our defence and obviously in our attack as well.
“We are going to work as hard as we can and make sure we make our tackles as we have been.
“That is what we will do in New Zealand as well.”
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